The Walking Dead Season 4: Is Rick Grimes to Blame For Hershel’s Death?

We’re in for a serious awakening when The Walking Dead returns to television with the back half of Season 4 on February 9, 2014. Our beloved group of survivors has not only scattered in who knows how many directions, but they will also be dealing with the loss of Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson), and we’re predicting that it’s going to be rough for everyone.

We know Carl is still a kid, but if he blames Rick for Judith’s passing, then it’s possible some of the others (Carl included) could use the same rationale to fault him for Hershel’s death as well. Both of Hershel’s daughters Beth Greene (Emily Kinney) and Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan) watched The Governor (David Morrissey) behead their dad after Rick refused to let him into the prison, and even though many people on Team Prison would have made the same choice that Rick did, we can’t be expecting people who are beside themselves with grief to be thinking too clearly.

Is it really Rick’s fault that Hershel died? No, The Gov. clearly sliced him with Michonne’s katana, but one could see how someone in pain, looking for another person to blame, might fault The Ricktator for not giving into The Gov.’s demands.

Still, it’s clear that Rick didn’t want to be the one The Governor communicated with, as he’d been trying to shed the leadership role virtually all season up until that point. He was also gutted when The Gov. killed his father figure, and we have a feeling the one-eyed big bad would have killed Hershel no matter what Rick ultimately decided.

Do you think it’s fair for Carl and the others to blame Rick for Hershel’s death? Sound off below!

The Walking Dead Season 4 returns on Sunday, February 9 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.